How Organisations Benefit from Effective Outplacement Support

When the notion of redundancy comes up, the focus often falls in the first instance upon the individuals impacted by the process. Specifically, how they’ll manage the emotional impact, the short-term financial implications and the importance of helping support them to move on in their career. However, behind the scenes, the employer who has been tasked with making the difficult decisions is also faced with significant challenges to manage. The decision to make workforce changes, is not simply an operational or financial decision but one that can have serious emotional and reputational implications as well.

Whilst much of the conversation around redundancy naturally centres on employees, the employer also benefits from effective support. With competition in the job market higher than ever and with job seekers faced with increasingly complex challenges, investing in outplacement support, is a highly effective and strategic solution for businesses, regardless of their size or sector. Not only do they help employees move on in their careers more quickly and easily, they also offer long-term benefits to the organisation as well.

Here are a few examples of how organisations benefit from Outplacement Support:

Protecting Brand Reputation and Safeguarding Against Legal Risks

With redundancy may come legal and reputational challenges and risks for a business to consider. Employees who are impacted may feel they have been dealt with unfairly which can lead to grievances and legal challenges. As a result, this can also cause short term harm to an organisation’s brand reputation. Offering employees personalised and practical outplacement support, demonstrates that the organisation understands and takes its duty of care seriously.

Outplacement can also go a long way to showing that a company recognises its responsibilities as an employer, especially during challenging times. More often than not, simply the fact that support is being offered can alleviate some of the emotional stress straight away, whilst helping to minimise the resentment and negativity which is often raised on social media or in some cases, through formal disputes.

Demonstrating Commitment to Company Values

How a company manages change and the challenges which come with difficult decision making such as redundancy, says a lot about its commitment to its values and the strength and effectiveness of its leadership. Offering a service such as outplacement support shows current employees, as well as those who may later join the business, that your organisation is supportive and forward-thinking.

For potential hires, it suggests a people-first culture where individuals are respected, even when their time with the business has come to an end. For clients, it suggests a well-managed business in touch with the modern working world and with a focus on looking after its people. For ‘Survivors’ or those employees who remain with the business, it helps build resilience and can reinforce trust in leadership. This all contributes to a stronger employer brand, which can be crucial in a competitive market where the battle for talent is so important.

Maintaining Morale and Productivity

The impact of redundancy isn’t only felt by those employees who end up leaving; it’s not uncommon for those staff who remain with the business, to experience ‘survivor’s guilt’. This may include concern for their former colleagues or anxiety about their own job security. It can also mean resentment at increased workloads they may face as a result. If this isn’t managed appropriately, it can lead to a lack of engagement, as well as burnout and most likely of all, a reduction in productivity.

Providing outplacement support to impacted employees shows that the organisation is doing everything it can to make the transition a smooth a process as possible. That gesture can go a long way to helping to maintain or rebuild morale and restore confidence in the company’s approach. It can also demonstrate that the leadership remains committed to fairness and transparency even in challenging times.

Why Outplacement is Important

Offering outplacement support to employees shouldn’t solely be the preserve of larger organisations undertaking major restructuring. In fact, it is equally as valuable for smaller or medium-sized companies, where it is not uncommon for the impact of every employee’s role to be even more crucial and the emotional impact of redundancy to be even more keenly felt. Outplacement doesn’t just support those who leave; it can help to safeguard and strengthen the health, culture, and resilience of the organisation after changes have been made. In that sense, outplacement can play an integral role in ensuring that difficult periods of transformation don’t put the company’s values, reputation, or performance at risk.